We know that the best option when it comes to storage and shipping is FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon); however, although it is an excellent service, it is not without errors. These faults can cause sellers to lose money if they are not corrected in time, in this article we will discuss what these errors are, how to prevent them, and how to get your money back.
The three most common FBA errors and how to avoid them
1. Units charged at a higher weight or dimension
Amazon can charge your products with incorrect weight or dimensions; for this, it is necessary to constantly review the measurements that appear in seller central and make sure that these are identical to those of your products, these dimensions include the unit’s packaging such as the box or polybag.
To find the measures that are in the FBA system in seller central, you have to download the Fee Preview report that you will find by going to Reports > Fulfillments > Payments > Fee Preview
If you found that the dimensions associated with your item are incorrect, you can submit a request for a remeasurement through the Remeasure FBA products and confirm fees, and you will find this option by typing “remeasure” into the search bar. You have 20 re-measurement per month; once you submit your request, Amazon will locate a unit belonging to your inventory and remeasure it.
If Amazon finds that the re-measurement is incorrect, they will refund the amount overcharged and the measurements and weight will be adjusted.
2. Customer refunds for items that were never returned
Sometimes Amazon will issue a refund before the buyer has returned their item, when this happens the buyer will be happy, but this money will actually be taken from their account. To avoid these errors, it is necessary to monitor the returns and identify those missing returns. These errors are easy to spot. We suggest doing this process at least once a week to catch these issues and contact Amazon for reimbursement to your account
1.Go to Reports > Payments > Transaction View > Transaction Type > refunds and select the date you will like to see > Download report
2. Go to Reports > Fulfillment > on the left bar, go to Customer Concessions and click on FBA Customer Returns. Choose the same date range as your payment report
Compare the orders ID’s in both reports; if you find any discrepancies, please contact Amazon Support within 30 days.
3. Items lost or damaged in the Amazon warehouse
When you send your products to Amazon, you expect them to arrive complete and in good condition, but this is not always the case; sometimes, some products are lost or may arrive damaged. To avoid losing money in this process, closely monitoring all shipments is important.
You can enter Inventory > Manage FBA Shipments and review your shipments in detail. To identify if something is missing or damaged, select the closed shipments and focus on units expected and units received. In the example below, you will see that the units that were sent to FBA were 4,006, but only 3,911 units were received.
After identifying these errors, click on track shipments and go to “Contents.” Here you will find all the discrepancy details by product. To reconcile and recover your money or units back, click on “research missing units.”
Amazon will require that you have certain documentation on hand to prove that the inventory belongs to you and that it was shipped. For this, we recommend very clear documentation since Amazon is quite meticulous and does not receive documentation that is not clear and precise enough; these are the documents that they request:
Proof of inventory ownership:
- Resolution should be 2,000 x 1,500 pixels or higher
- The document should be properly oriented (not sideways or upside down)
- Only one document per submission, uploaded in a single file
- Submit only .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .tif, .tiff, or .pdf file format
Some examples of acceptable documents are an invoice from a supplier, a receipt from another seller, or a signed packing slip if you are a manufacturer. The following information must be provided:
- Date of purchase
- Product names matching the missing products
- Quantity
Proof of delivery:
For LTL or FTL shipments, a bill of lading showing the number of boxes in the shipment and the total weight when the carrier picked it up.
- The document must be stamped by Amazon, confirming that the shipment was received and signed at the fulfillment center.
- Your carrier should have a copy of this document.
After submitting all of this documentation, a case will be opened for investigation. Amazon may ask you additional questions and follow-up on these cases is necessary for a successful resolution.
Reconciliation of shipped inventory usually takes 2 to 30 days. In some cases, it will take up to 60 days. For any additional discrepancies, you can ask Selling Partner Support to investigate.
Tip: We know that the reconciliation process can be tedious and time-consuming and that is why we recommend GETIDA. Its amazing software will help you in these situations. GETIDA keeps track of your Amazon FBA inventory transactions, refunds, seller data analytics, and FBA refunds easily and clearly. Their team of case managers will file FBA reimbursement claims on your behalf.
Bonus
Small and light program:
You could be losing money by not properly using the programs that Amazon has to offer you. The Small and Light program is designed for small items of low value equal to or less than $10. This program allows the FBA rates for these products to be much lower than the traditional FBA rates.
To be part of the small and light program, your products must be new, measure 18 x 14 x 8 inches or less, weigh 3 pounds or less, and be priced at $10 or less.
Here is an example, for a unit of 6 oz or less, the regular fulfillment fees are $3.07, and for units of the same weight and dimensions under the Small and Light program, the fees will be $2.47, a difference of 60 cents per unit. . This can help you save a lot of money for your small products.
For more details, here is the Small and Light product enrollment page.
Conclusion
Amazon errors can happen; it is important to notice them in time. That’s why it’s important to constantly monitor your Seller Central account to take action, prevent it from happening and get your money refunded. If you don’t have enough time to monitor your seller account in detail, Bellavix can help you with that. This specialized agency in Amazon can help you by providing operational service and monitoring your central seller account so that everything runs smoothly.
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